


Interview with a boxer

by ladyc2



Category: KAT-TUN (Band)
Genre: Journalist AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-24
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-06-15 08:58:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15409503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyc2/pseuds/ladyc2
Summary: Kame needs Nakamaru's help to land an interview with Ueda.





	Interview with a boxer

Nakamaru ran into the office, hastily dropping himself into his chair. He glanced up at the clock just as it ticked over to starting time. _Made it._ He pumped his fist in satisfaction and swivelled in his chair to share a grin with Kame. But Kame's chair was empty. He looked around the office, even craning his neck to see if he was over in the sports department, but there was no sign of his friend.

Nakamaru knew he'd been out covering the baseball game last night - maybe he'd gone out for drinks with the players afterwards and was thus feeling too under the weather to make it in on time this morning. Nakamaru grumbled a bit about that - not the going out, or even that Kame had made friends on the teams (and Nakamaru would be a hypocrite if he did, since he had several actor friends himself), but these days it sometimes felt like there was a whole part of Kame's life that Nakamaru just wasn't involved in.

They'd both been apprentice journalists together, and had in fact met when they'd both got the location for the interview wrong (in fairness, the newspaper had been moving offices at the time and it had been rather unclear whether the interviews were supposed to be held at the old or new building). They'd had to run to make it on time but thankfully, they'd both been successful. And they'd been inseparable friends ever since.

Even when the trainee period was over and they'd been moved into different departments (Nakamaru the entertainment division, Kame the sports team), Kame had refused to change desks, insisting he worked better when he was near Nakamaru. And since Kame turned out to be one of the papers ace reporters - his baseball columns garnering widespread acclaim as well as uncovering several sporting scandals - nobody had been in the mood to argue with him. 

Nakamaru shook his head to clear it of unwanted thoughts. Deep down he knew where those feelings were coming from but now was not the time or place to be examining them. He had his own story to write. He knuckled down to work and managed to finish it off quite quickly (drama write-ups weren't exactly a difficult prospect) before he turned his attention to a potentially more interesting work. Kame wasn't the only one who could write exposés - something was definitely happening at Johnny's & Associates, the mega-idol company - he could feel it, and he was determined to get to the bottom of it. Unfortunately he was having trouble getting anybody, even those only vaguely associated with the company, to talk.

After an hour or two of cross-referencing articles looking for hidden meanings or underlying messages in statements, he looked up from his computer screen to give his eyes a break only to be confronted with Kame's face looking at him from behind the screen

"Ah!" Nakamaru reared back in shock, his hand going to his chest, as if that would somehow calm his racing heartbeat. "Don't do that," he admonished, knowing very well that Kame would never stop surprising him like that while he gave such reactions. Proving him right, Kame just laughed, before stepping round the desk and bending over to read Nakamaru's screen. This put him in a position very close to Nakamaru and when he finished reading and turned his head to look at Nakamaru again, his lips were mere millimetres from his own. Still, as usual, it took every ounce of Nakamaru's willpower to not react to Kame's teasing. He often wondered what Kame would do, if he closed that gap and kissed those lips. But Kame was only teasing and Nakamaru valued their friendship too much to risk it. So he kept his face as neutral as possible.

"What do you need?"

"Yu~i~ch~i." Kame drawled out his name in a sing-song manner that went straight to places Nakamaru would rather not think about. Nakamaru clenched his fist, digging his nails into his palm to distract himself from temptation. 

"Ka~me," he replied, mimicking the other man.

Kame pulled back, leaving Nakamaru to breathe a relieved sigh, and sat on the corner of Nakamaru's desk.

"Ever heard of Ueda Tatsuya?"

Nakamaru hadn't. "Should I have?"

Kame clicked his tongue in annoyance before pouting spectacularly. "I know you're only really interested in soccer, but you could at least read my articles occasionally. I read your sparkly idol stories."

"A baseball player then?" Nakamaru guessed, not bothering to correct Kame - he did read Kame's stories - it's just that lately his mind tended to wander to Kame himself when he was reading rather than the words on the page.

"No, he's a boxer. Making a big splash in the featherweight division. But he's notoriously picky about who he gives an interview too. Seems he's got a rather spiky personality - he's actually scared away a couple of reporters who've tried to hit him up for interviews." Kame seemed impressed by this Ueda.

"Okay, but I still don't see what this has to do with me?"

Kame leaned in again, but this time more in a conspiratorial way than an 'I'm trying to get a reaction out of you way'. He lowered his voice. "Rumour has it he's got senpai-kouhai relationship with Sakurai Sho,"

_Sakurai Sho?_ "The newsreader?" Nakamaru still was getting it. "I don't know him either."

"But you are friends with Ninomiya Kazunari," Kame prompted. And Nino was friends with Sakurai. Nakamaru should have followed along with this a lot quicker, but sometimes when Kame was close his brain just didn't want to work right. He should probably clarify.

"You want me to ask Ninomiya-san to ask Sakurai-san to ask Ueda-san for an interview?" 

Kame smiled. Bingo!

"There's no guarantee this will work," Nakamaru warned. He hadn't bothered to say no, it was inevitable Kame would get his own way. He always did. 

"Sure it will," Kame said, clapping Nakamaru on the back before returning to his own desk. "Who could turn down Nakamaru Yuichi?" 

\---

Nakamaru mashed at the controller, but it was fruitless as Nino won yet again. Normally he put up a better fight, but his mind was more on other things tonight. He really didn't like to use his friends for work favours. It seemed disingenous, like his friendship wasn't really about being friends. He should have told Kame no. But that was never going to happen.

"I'll get us a beer." Nino said, hopping up and heading to the kitchen. When he came back he got straight to the point. "What's up?" When Nakamaru looked up at him in surprise, he added. "You've been fidgety all night. Whatever it is, just spit it out?"

Nakamaru took a deep breath. "I have a favour to ask."

Nino grinned. "You want the early scoop on the new drama?"

"No, it's," Nakamaru started, then paused as Nino's words sank in. "Eh? There's a new drama?"

Nino held up his hands in abeyance. "You didn't hear it from me." 

"Noted," Nakamaru replied, filing that tidbit away for later as he shared a grin with Nino. 

Nino sat back down on the couch, handing the beer over to Nakamaru. "So what is it then?" he asked as he took a drink from his own bottle.

Nakamaru explained about Kame and his wish to interview Ueda Tatsuya. Nino looked at him, his head tilted slightly to one side and a knowing smile on his face, as Nakamaru finished. 

"Sho is pretty protective of his juniors."

"Kame's a good journalist. He's not out to do an expose, he just wants more people to know about Ueda-san's skills."

Once again, Nino gave him a look that implied he could see right through Nakamaru. "All right, I'll try." Nino finally said. "But no promises."

"Thank you."

"Now, could you concentrate on the game this time." Nino griped, picking up the controller and handing it back to Nakamaru. "I'd like my winning record to remain intact fair and square, not because my opponent is off in the clouds. You're almost as bad as Ohno tonight."

Ohno? Could Nino mean Ohno Satoshi? They were roughly the same age so a friendship wouldn't be so unusual. More importantly, from Nakamaru's perspective,was that Ohno Satoshi was one of _the_ top Johnny's idols. 

Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to rely on his connections a little more.

\---

It took a couple of weeks for the interview to finally be arranged. Sakurai Sho had apparently done his own research on both Kame and himself. Whatever he'd found it seemed to be enough for him to agree to convince Ueda to give the interview. Now they sat in the locker room of a small gym, watching Ueda as he shadow boxed.

On first appearances Ueda looked quite scary, with his spiky blonde hairdo, his fists taped up ready for practice - he could see why other reporters had been scared away. Nakamaru turned to Kame but he didn't seem intimidated at all. From the look on his face as he watched Ueda, Nakamaru half expected him to jump up and offer to spar. 

Kame was a natural interviewer, bringing out not just Ueda's goals and determination, but also a rather cute side. Nakamaru had wondered what Sakurai of all people would see in the abrasive Ueda, but now he saw it. He found himself envying Kame's professional side - Nakamaru sometimes felt like he had to adopt a whole different persona to effectively interview some people. 

Throughout the interview Ueda kept throwing them odd looks. Nakamaru followed his gaze to his shoulder where Kame's hand was plucking at Nakamaru's shirt while he asked questions. Kame was a naturally touchy-feely type of person and Nakamaru must have gotten used to it over the years because he hadn't even noticed that Kame was doing that - though now that his attention was brought to it he couldn't seem to focus on anything else. _This was getting ridiculous_. He returned his attention back to the conversation, though it looked like the interview was winding down.

"I'm surprised you know so much about boxing." Ueda was saying. 

"I went undercover as a boxer once to do a story on gyms that were doping their boxers. Having to train and get in the ring really got me interested in the sport." Kame sounded fond but Nakamaru couldn't help but grimace in distaste. He remembered those days very differently - Kame starving himself to get to some seemingly unattainable weight for fights, alongside a rather brutal sounding training regime. Sometimes, Nakamaru worried about how far Kame would go for his stories. Kame was laughing now. "Although I did almost accidentally end up married to a nun."

"Eh?" Nakamaru had never heard that part before. 

"Sounds fun," Ueda laughed. "I'd like to hear how that happened sometime."

Kame looked at his watch, then at the other two men. "Well, it is getting late. Why don't we go out for dinner and I can tell you the story."

\---

At the restaurant, Ueda inhaled his food like it was going to be taken away from him at any minute. It also turned out that thanks to his friendship with Sakurai Sho, he knew several idols and had a passing interest in the showbiz world. Still, Nakamaru found himself thinking that Ueda was a person he really wanted to know and hang out with as a friend, not a source. 

"Kame's cute but does he ever shut up?" Ueda asked when Kame had left to visit the bathroom.

Nakamaru laughed. "Not when he gets going on his favourite topics. Although if you get him drunk enough he does tend to switch to being inappropriate with furniture." 

Ueda laughed. "I think I'd like to see that, but unfortunately I have to be up early for training. I'll leave you to it."

"Good luck." Nakamaru called as Ueda headed off.

"Thanks. I'll send you guys some tickets." He waved as he exited the restaurant.

When Kame returned to the table, he was only a little disappointed to hear that Ueda had gone home."

"Yucchi," he said, sliding into the booth and pressing up against Nakamaru. He grabbed Nakamaru's arm. "Thanks for today."

Nakamaru gulped, and took a steadying drink, trying not to think about how close Kame was. "No problem," he stuttered out. 

\---

Nakamaru entered the office the next day to find Kame sleeping in his chair. A sneaky thought entered his brain. He didn't often get the chance to catch Kame unawares. He softly stepped up to the chair, bracing his hands on each of the arms,so he had Kame trapped and leaned in as close as he dared to Kame's face.

"Kazuya," he called softly.

Unfortunately it didn't go to plan. At the sound of his name, Kame jolted awake with a start his instincts causing him to punch out catching Nakamaru straight in the stomach. Nakamaru fell back with an

"Nakamaru?" Kame blinked at him in confusion for a second, before seeming to realise what he'd done. He rushed over to where Nakamaru was now lying on the floor. "I'm so sorry. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Nakamaru groaned out. 

Kame wasn't buying it. He gripped Nakamaru's arm to help him up. "Let's get you to sick room."

The sick room was really more of a sick cupboard, holding a first aid kit and chair and not much else. Nakamaru was sure it had been a storage closet of some kind before new health and safety regulations had commanded that the office have some sort of medical treatment room for accidents and emergencies.

Kame leaned over him, trying to thoroughly check him out. Nakamaru slapped his hand away as he tried lifting his shirt to get a better look at where he'd punched him. Kame stood back, hands on hips as frowned down at Nakamaru. 

"What were you doing?"

Nakamaru shifted uncomfortably on the chair and looked at his lap. "You always do it to me," he mumbled.

"Eh?" Kame replied. "Do what?"

"Lean in close, like you're about to kiss me." Nakamaru risked a glance at Kame's face. It was a cross between confusion, concern and at Nakamaru's words - surprise.

"Not when you're sleeping."

Nakamaru suddenly realised he was frustrated. "Well, apparently I'm an idiot," he spat out more at himself than Kame.

"You're not an i-," Kame tried to reply but Nakamaru hadn't finished.

"I should have just gone with my first idea and kissed you last time you did it." Nakamaru clenched his fists and returned his gaze to his lap. He _was_ an idiot, and maybe this would be the end of his friendship with Kame but he didn't regret his words - they'd needed to come out. He felt Kame moving - closer, surprisingly. Nakamaru looked up to meet Kame's smiling but weirdly hesitant expression.

"Really?" Kame asked. Nakamaru nodded. He may as well go all in.

Kame smiled at Nakamaru's reply and then leaned right in as if to test his resolve. "I don't see how that's payback though. It sounds good to me," he whispered. Still he hovered there, lips millimetres away as if he needed Nakamaru to make the next move.

"You could have said something earlier too," Nakamaru muttered quickly before finally closing that gap and sealing their lips together in a searing kiss.

\---

A few days later and Nakamaru couldn't wipe the smile off his face and he worked. Even the fact that he hadn't gotten any further on his expose couldn't dampen his mood. He and Kame were together and it hadn't ruined their friendship at all. In fact they were closer than ever and that distance he'd been worried about only a few days ago seemed like a different lifetime. 

He went to get a coffee from the break room and upon returning to his desk, he found Kame standing by it, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. He'd been gone all morning, running off not long after they'd arrived at the office. Nakamaru was happy to see him back, but that grin spoke of trouble - trouble for Nakamaru.

"What are you up to?" he asked.

Kame adopted an innocent expression. Now Nakamaru knew something was going on. "Well, since you helped me with my story, I thought I'd help you with yours," Kame replied sweetly.

"Oh, which story is that?"

Kame swatted at his arm. "Your J&A story, of course," he replied. "I have some connections too you know."

"You know someone willing to talk?" Nakamaru was intrigued in spite of his suspicions. _It couldn't be that easy._

"No," Kame shook his head. He pulled out a sheet of paper that looked kind of like an employment contract. He waved it about excitedly. "But I got us into the company."

"Into?" The dread started building. What exactly had Kame got them 'into'?

Kame grin became even wider with excitement. "Starting tomorrow we are officially undercover as junior managers for…," Kame paused to read off the paper he was holding, "Kanjani8."


End file.
